Chapter 16: A duel in a hellfire storm.
Blake couldn't believe her eyes. In front of her lay the bodies of not only SDC employees but also innocent passengers who were just simply unlucky enough to take this train. Men, women, children, old people,... None were spared.
"Why,... Why did you do this?" Blake said as she covered her mouth with her hands.
"Why spare them? They were the ones who chose this fate." Adam said cold heartedly.
"HOW ARE ANY OF THESE PASSENGERS ARE AT FAULT!? THEY DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!" The cat faunus screamed at the bull's face.
"Exactly. They did nothing." He explained.
"Faunuses fell down not just because of the wicked who pushed us to the edge, but mostly because people who stood there and watched. They need to learn their lesson, that inactivity is NOT a choice. They either stand with us, or stand against us. There's nowhere in between."
"But this is wrong! People shouldn't be forced to fight OUR BATTLES for us! Faunuses and humans alike should never be forced to go to war if they don't want to!" Blake responded.
"As I said. Either you fight with us for our cause or you fight against us." The red haired bull faunus's tone darkened.
"So,... Tell me, Blake. Do you stand with us, stand by my side, or with them?" Adam asked as he unsheathed his katana and pointed at the dead bodies.
The bull then put his blade against Blake's throat as he continued.
"I want you to make the decision now."
The girl shivered in fear. She didn't want to die, but she could not bring herself to hurt others. After all, a life is still a life. If the bull thought that he could force her to kill other people just to save her own life then he is dead wrong.
Blake Belladonna believed in justice and is willing to bet her life on it. The cat decided that even if it kills her, she would never hurt or kill another person if they did absolutely nothing wrong. It was then, when the girl's decision was made.
'Mom,... Dad,... I'm sorry. This unruly child will not be able to meet you again.' Blake closed her eyes as she thought of her parents.
Every happy or sad memory of her life began to flash before her eyes. The day she lost a tooth, the day she went to school and got bullied and met Illia, the day she saw her father coming home with a bullet wound and a tale of a yellow clad huntsman saving his life, the day she met an enthusiastic Adam who talked about liberty and equality. Where did those days go? With a deep breath, the cat faunus answered.
"I'm not with you."
"That settles it then. Such a shame." Adam said, coldly.
As he raised his blade behind him and got ready to cut Blake's head off, a sound of something hitting the side of the train.
*CRASH*
*THUD*
A White Fang suddenly hit the side of the train and face planted to the ground close to the two's position.
Taking advantage of Adam's moment of distraction, Blake leaped back and created an ice statue of herself to take the blow. Taurus growled because he slashed at the clone. When he was about to chase her, a scorpion kunai embedded to the side of the train in front of him Adam then switched his gaze to the man who launched that blade.
There stood Hanzo Hasashi, the man who he called grandmaster, his own blood clan. A few seconds passed before Adam decided to speak up.
"Long time no see, grandmaster. What brings you here?"
"You already know the answer to that. You think you are so smart, betraying your vows like there would be no consequences." Hanzo growled.
"I still have not betrayed my vows, as I am still protecting my people." Taurus shot back.
"That girl and the people you've killed says otherwise." Scorpion stated.
"All for the sake of Faunus kind. A job that you wouldn't even bother to look at." Adam said.
"We Shirai Ryu vow to protect our clan, our people. We stand as this world's protectors. Look at yourself, Adam. Killing your own kind and innocent lives and for WHAT!? Does that DAMN scar really worth tainting your very own soul with the blood of the innocent!?" The ninja asked in rage.
"My very own soul and the Shirai Ryu Clan's for faunus kind to achieve peace, freedom and the luxury of being superior to the human race. A cheap price. Too cheap." the bull answered nonchalantly.
"As suspected, you were the one who allied yourself with our enemies and rat us out to them. Well, you have officially become my enemy now for doing such a thing. Such action shall be rewarded,... WITH DEATH!" Hanzo stated.
Instinctively, Adam put his left foot backwards while putting his right hand on his katana handle. Scorpion locked eyes with his enemy and used his left hand to hold the sheath of his katana and pulled the trigger. The locking mechanism in the sheath released the blade and pushed it out as Scorpion grabbed it and drew it out of the sheath.
The two of them circled each other for a few seconds as the air was slowly filled with burning cinders from the two burning katana. The cinders flew in the air as if they rained from the sky.
Adam then suddenly put his left hand on the sheath and hellfire shot out of the gun sheath. Hanzo swiped right with his katana to deflect the hit in response. The red haired bull faunus then teleported behind the ninja and swiped right at his head, but the yellow ninja slashed upward to the left to parry the hit.
After that, Scorpion brought the blade down upon Taurus, but he blocked it and tried to overpower Scorpion but the man just wouldn't move an inch. Hanzo then push-kicked the bull faunus in the chest with his left leg and used the momentum to back-flip away from him.
The yellow ninja then threw three wind dust infused shurikens at Adam, who ducked underneath the shurikens and charged at him. The red haired bull faunus then held his katana sideways to his right side and prepared a thrust attack.
Hanzo landed before sidestepping to his right to avoid getting stabbed and slashed bull faunus's back, causing the boy to scream in pain. Scorpion then brought the sword down upon Adam, who teleported upwards.
The faunus then held his blade in a back-grip position to stab the ninja. Scorpion sidestepped to his left to dodge the attack and used his right leg to step on Adam's katana before using it as a lever to push himself up to knee Adam in the face.
Hanzo then spun clockwise to deliver a mid air slash at the bull faunus's throat, but he blocked it. The red haired bull then pushed Scorpion away with his katana and quickly sheathed it and shot two hellfire bullets at the ninja. Scorpion sidestepped to the right to dodged the bullets and the two charged at each other.
Adam quick-drew his katana to deliver a high hit but Hanzo ducked under it as he swiped right to cut Adam's thigh. The yellow ninja then sheathed his katana and turned around and quick-drew the blade to send a sideway wave of flame at the bull faunus.
The red haired boy just teleported behind Hanzo and jumped to bring the blade upon the ninja. Scorpion spun clockwise and pushed Adam's katana away before throwing fire dust at the bull faunus's face, causing it to explode and block his enemy's vision.
Taking advantage of this, the yellow ninja jumped back and threw a shuriken at the red haired bull, which embedded into his left shoulder, before charging into a thrust attack at him. Seeing this, Taurus pushed the incoming blade to his left and knocked Hanzo back a few meters with a shoulder charge.
Adam then swung his katana upwards, to which Scorpion teleported behind him and held his katana sideways to his left and aimed at the faunus's heart. The bull spun opposite clockwise and deflected the blade to his left and swiped right at Hanzo's mask.
The ninja spun along the katana and used his left leg to deliver a roundhouse to the red haired bull's face, staggering him. Taking advantage of this, Hanzo stabbed the sword straight into Adam's right chest, puncturing his lung. In a blink of an eye, Scorpion pulled his katana out of the faunus's chest and swung the blade to his right, cutting the bull in the stomach.
Mortally wounded, Adam dropped his katana and fell to his knees. The red haired bull looked at his former master's eyes and muttered.
"Do it,... Show the world who you truly are…"
"I could've just killed you. So many times. I didn't even use my chained kunais or knife. I really want to kill you for what you did, but you were a Shirai Ryu, so I will give you a more honorable death than most of my enemies." Hanzo stated.
The ninja then raised his katana high in the air and brought it down upon Adam's neck, decapitating him immediately. Hanzo then looked at the red haired bull's lifeless corpse and said.
"Despite what you did, I could not bring myself to hate you. I suppose it's my fault too. I did not care about anything other than my clan. You fought for a noble cause. It's a shame that we had become enemies. You would've been a great Chunin if you weren't caught up in your own vengeance."
'Like I once did.' He thought to himself as he walked away from the area.
Ozpin's office
The headmaster of Beacon was in the middle of a meeting with James Ironwood, who was ranting about the Shirai Ryu's ways of handling things.
"This CANNOT and WILL not be acceptable!" Ironwood yelled.
"I understand your anger, James, I do but-"
"Do you really? Because If you do, you would've put this man behind bars for what he did!" The general shouted.
"And, what did he do, exactly? Everyone he has killed has a criminal record and is helping our enemies." Ozpin stated.
"He has killed many Huntsmen, Ozpin. Our Huntsmen!" James Ironwood told him angrily.
"Who has gone rogue and is aiding the Black Dragons. Not only that, they are also terrorizing the people. Besides, there is also no actual evidence that he actually killed them. Well, all of them." Ozpin informed him.
"What do you mean?" The general calmed himself down a bit and sat down.
"There have been reports of Black Dragons's cybernetic soldiers. Those things may be our dead rogue huntsmen." The headmaster answered.
"What about those people's DNA in the body parts?" Ironwood asked.
"Those are most likely their useless body parts. There are also reports of missing corpses. It would make sense if the Grimm had killed them, but their bodies were never found. These two things could not have been a coincidence. Something's going on and I can tell you, it's going to be a great threat for the kingdoms. And we, as leaders cannot be picky about our allies." headmaster Ozpin stated.
"I must ask you this again, Oz. Are you sure that we can trust him? How am I going to know that he won't outright stab us in the back?" General Ironwood asked.
"Simple. The Shirai Ryu has been aiding me for hundreds of years, why would they backstab us? And as I remembered, I was the one who sought them out in the immortal war." The principal answered.
"I just wanted to make sure that he does not target our people. Keeping them safe is our top priority." Ironwood stated.
"I know. And who is better to fight our war than the man who despises our enemy." Ozpin told him.
WOOOOOOO! Shit's about to go down. Are you hyped for the next chapter? Because I know I am.